Deutschland Uber Alles
by Glaivester
Summary: The Red Skull is determined to bring Nazism back to Germany, beginning with his son, Kurt Wagner. Can the X-Men rescue Kurt and stop the Red Skull from unleashing a genocidal virus? Wandurt, Juggitty, and Tabremy. Complete.
1. Foreshadowing

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DEUTSCHLAND UBER ALLES

by Glaivester

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except for my original characters, of course. But if Marvel wants to use them, they can. Feel free to post this, or any other Glaivester fic, anywhere, but please notify me so I can brag about it. 

Summary: PG-13. Fourth in the "Essex Plan" series. Kurt has been captured by his father, the Red Skull. The X-Men must rescue him and stop the Red Skull's plans to launch a genocidal virus on the world. 

A/N: This story will focus mostly on the Apocalypse/Red Skull and Kurt/Red Skull storyline ("/" is not intended to indicate a pairing); the other strands will be reserved for future stories. Pairings in this story will include: Juggitty and Tabremy. ~ is used to indicate telepathic communication.

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Chapter 1 Foreshadowing

Friday late afternoon (in Switzerland, mid-morning back in Bayville), after Thanksgiving:

Kurt woke up groggy. He could hardly remember the events of the previous day. He noticed that he was in a large, four poster bed with one of those canopies over it. He actually felt quite comfortable. He then noticed that he was wearing an old-fashioned nightgown and cap on his head.

He tried to teleport to the dresser drawer he could spy on the other side of the room, but he was unable to do so. He also noticed that he felt weaker than normal. It was as if all of his mutant powers that were not entirely physical were turned off.

He then felt the collar around his neck. He remembered watching as Beast and Professor X had worked on Wanda's necklace, and how they eventually called in Forge to help them, and then finally handed the project completely over to him. It had taken a week, but he had managed to take it apart and to put it back together so as to get the bugs out. And so Wanda's powers could be suppressed so as to allow her to sort through her emotional problems without causing massive destruction. This collar, Kurt felt, was probably the same thing, albeit less stylized or hidden.

He looked at himself in the mirror. The collar was yellow with glowing red in front. From the corner of his eye he could see Valkyrie walk in.

She looked sort of strange, to say the least. A seven-foot-tall strapping blonde, she wore steel armor fashioned something like a one-piece bathing suit, but a modest one, not cut in the revealing V-shape like that purple-haired English supermodel Kurt had heard of . She had a helmet like that of Asterix the Gaul, with wings on it. She carried a sword, a battleaxe, a fixed mace, and a chain mace on her belt. She also wore knee-high fur-trimmed rough leather boots.

"Here is your food," she plopped down a bunch of ethnic German food on a tray. "Eat, and your father will see you shortly."

Kurt remembered now, his attempt to save his mother, only to be captured himself.

Back at the X-Mansion, Nick Fury was examining the X-Men's latest - er - acquisition. She was lying on her back, unconscious in the infirmary, her right shoulder bandaged and healing. Scott, Charles, and Hank were there with him.

"So her name is?"

"Apparently," said Scott, here on Thanksgiving break, "her name is Lyssa Summers. At least according to the ID she carries. We have known her as Slayer. She is, apparently, a clone of me with the X chromosome doubled and..."

"I know how to make a female clone from a male," interrupted Fury. "Remember X23?"

"Okay, well, she's also been enhanced, apparently. I'm not certain, but I believe that it was the change of sex which altered the color of the eye beams."

"Emerald quartz instead of ruby," stated Fury matter-of-factly. "So her beams are green?"

"Yes," said Scott.

"So what do you plan to do with her?"

Charles spoke this time. "Let her stay here and try to teach her how to be an X-Man. Perhaps she can learn something other than death, destruction, and the desire to control everyone else's lives."

"No can do... she's much, much, too dangerous and knows too much about Sinister for us to let her out of our sight. As soon as she recovers from her wounds, we will take her to our facility. And if Dr. McCoy can prepare any relevant research notes on mutants, we would like to have him do so. I would like for him to come too."

"Why?" asked Hank.

"Because, you know a great deal about the genetics of mutation, and are by far the most intelligent biochemist that we have access to."

"What about Mr. Richards?"

"Reed is smart, but he is much better at physics and non-biological chemistry. And you have been specifically researching the X-gene. We wish to discover how Sinister enhanced her, and to see what we can deduce about Sinister's methods and abilities."

In Sinister's base inside the pyramid in Egypt, Apocalypse was making plans. Big plans. He had already arranged for the Red Skull to activate the pyramid in the Shansi province of China. Well, technically, the Red Skull's henchman Pocket would do so. But once activated, the pyramid would call the now-active Eye to bring another of Apocalypse's transport vessels out of subspace and to use it to complete the activation. He would need to reassure Sinister that the Red Skull had done this on his own, and that it had nothing to do with him, and that he did not have any access to the pyramid. Then he would be safe until the third dome was set up, at which point he would have his body cleared of the virus and be able to overthrow this young upstart Sinister once and for all.

Or, in the meantime, he could just let the Red Skull use the technology of the pyramid to enhance his own plans. Even if Apocalypse could not get free from Sinister any time soon, he would be able to help the Red Skull to bring all of Sinister's plans to naught by using the Nazi as an agent of chaos. A good, all-out nuclear war would destroy Sinister's plans of a carefully controlled and manipulated war and allow the best warriors to be selected by fate.

That was the difference between them. Sinister was a deist. He believed that God had abandoned the universe, and that we had to make fate ourselves. Apocalypse did not exactly believe in a personal God, but he believed in something active and out there. Apocalypse believed that whatever forces had shaped the world would also bring about paradise if humankind were simply to set things in motion and let fate do the rest.

"Well, well," said Sinister, walking in. "I have finally been able to decide on a date to begin. Two weeks from today."

"Pardon?" asked Apocalypse.

"The first target will be Northern Ireland. An attack there will restart the Irish-English conflict, and each side will want to have mutants to defend against another such attack. So I will send Pestilence [A/N Hairbag] to attack a Protestant community."

"And you are telling me because?"

"I need to brag to someone who does not agree entirely with me. Merith is too much like me for me to get any satisfaction over her praise."

"Like father, like daughter?"

"Indeed. And I will also get War [A/N Ruckus] to attack Dublin. You see, there is a mutant there with a similar power to his. Sean Cassidy. I want him for my menagerie."

"And in Northern Ireland?"

"The British government will ask for help enhancing their agents, the Braddock twins."

"You have much faith in yourself, Nathan."

"It's the only faith to have, Nur. The only faith to have."


	2. ReEducation

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Chapter 2 Re-Education

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except for my original characters, of course. But if Marvel wants to use them, they can. Feel free to post this, or any other Glaivester fic, anywhere, but please notify me so I can brag about it. 

Kurt was not happy. Despite the large quantities of food he had been given to consume, he was very unnerved at all of the swastikas and other paraphernalia on the walls of the huge dining room. On the other side of the long table sat Kurt's father, grinning as wide as a man with a skull-like face could. Apparently he had altered his face toward the very end of the war, by ingesting certain toxins. Up to that point he had just been a man in a mask.

Next to Kurt were Valkyrie on one side and Exchange on the other. Exchange had dark brown hair, solidly black eyes, and was otherwise non-descript.

Suddenly a large black man walked in on the other side and began talking with the Red Skull.

"Who is zat?" asked Kurt.

"Upload," answered Exchange. "He is our ally in Africa. Our first ally, and if his people are strong enough, perhaps our only."

"A Nazi allying with a black man?"

"Is it any weirder than a Nazi allying with an Asiatic, as we did in World War II?" asked Valkyrie. "We are allied with the Wachukus of Galothswo because we feel that their philosophy mirrors ours."

Kurt looked at Valkyrie, and then glanced quickly at his father, fifty feet away. "The Vachukus? Aren't zey the vuns involved in that mass killing last year?"

"Yes. The Luseths. An inferior race destined for the trash bin," answered Exchange.

Kurt began to grow a little sick. The Red Skull beckoned to him to come over. Powerless to disobey, Kurt obeyed.

"Now, my son, I understand that you have been raised by" - the old Nazi spat - "_Gypsies_. I am afraid that they must have polluted your brain with all sorts of terrible ideas. I am sorry that I was not there to help to teach you right and wrong, superior and inferior, as I would have wished. But I will make up for it now."

"Actually, I vould prefer to be taken back to my friends."

"I am sure that you would. But you need to realize that you have been too corrupted to know what you really want. Ever since those treacherous Jews stole our theory of relativity and claimed it for their own to give to the Americans, Germans - real Germans - have had to hide who they are."

"Actually," retorted Kurt, "the nuclear bomb vas never used against Germany. You vere defeated prior to its use."

"Yes. Well." The Red Skull didn't like to admit it when his propaganda was exposed as lies. Truth be told, he believed that the Germans were defeated because of a number of factors, among them Hitler's incompetence and his absolute avarice when it came to power. But he was still convinced that Einstein had somehow cheated when coming up with the theory of relativity, and that the Axis had died because of some sort of treachery, not because the Allies were strong.

"The point is," he continued, "you should be proud of what you are. And you should realize that you are one of the kings of the Earth, practically a god! You are _Deutsch_. And you are superior. Nein, you are supreme!"

Kurt just stared.

"I don't expect you to realize this now, but after I am done schooling you, and explaining the true version of history, you will see the errors of your ways, repent, and become the man you were intended to be."

Lyssa had woken up, and Fury was arranging for her transport early the next day on Saturday. Scott and Hank were also there, gathering Hank's notes.

"Well," said Beast. Here are all my notes. I'll be leaving with Lyssa?"

"Yes," replied Nick Fury curtly.

"By the way," asked Beast, "where is Cain?"

Scott looked over to Hank. "I believe that he is taking Kitty driving. The third attempt at the test for her license is next Wednesday."

Cain was shocked. He had not thought that he could possibly know fear. He was, after all, going to be sent with Slab and Mystique on a covert mission to find Kurt as soon as the Professor had located the Red Skull. For some reason, though, riding in the driver's seat next to Kitty was far, far more intimidating.

"Oh shoot, it turned yellow. Hang on!"

"Wait... noooooooo!"

They made it through the intersection. Cain couldn't stop gasping. "That - that light turned yellow one block away..."

"..and yet I made it before it turned red, didn't I?" Kitty flashed a smile at him. As if her driving were not bad enough, it now appeared that Kitty had a major crush on him. And for some reason, he had never thought of himself as a teen icon. "Am I doing well?"

"Watch the road! Aaaaghhh!!!!!"

Kitty barely made it into the lane without having to phase the X-Van. "Cain? You look pale. Is that part of your power?"

"Uh... LOOK OUT! AGGGGHHH!"

Meanwhile, Lyssa Summers woke up. "Where... where am I?"

Scott looked at her. "You're at the Institute. You're okay."

Lyssa began calculating. She didn't want to take off her glasses and demolish this place. Sinister might still have a use for the X-Men. Granted, he had samples of their DNA, but growing a clone could be very time-consuming and it was overall much better to have the original around whenever possible.

"By the way, we put a necklace around you. Designed by the Beast and the Professor, made and improved by Forge. You can't use your powers at all, so don't try."

"I understand." It was not in Slayer's nature to be impetuous. She tended to analyze her situation and to try to make other people comfortable with her before she tried anything. Unless she had orders to the contrary, that is. She would rather wait patiently for opportunity than rush off half-cocked and fail.

"You are going to be taken to SHIELD HQ," interjected Nick Fury. "We need to do some tests and to interrogate you."

"Dissect me, you mean?" asked Slayer.

Fury's mouth dropped, and his eyebrows raised. "No, but we'll need some tissue samples and we will need to talk to you."

"Why?"

"Your boss is a very bad man. He will hurt a lot of people. We already know that he was involved in destroying a lot of land in South America. We need to know who he is working for, and what he plans to do for them. My money is on the Red Chinese."

"I think he is working for his own agenda," said Beast.

"Perhaps so, but he needs funding. Make a few supermutants for Red China, perhaps attack Taiwan with them, and then prepare the way for an invasion of the Soviet... excuse me, Russia. In return, he gets labs, money, et cetera."

"What will happen to Lyssa?" asked Scott. "At SHIELD, I mean?"

"She'll be educated. Don't you worry, she'll be treated fine."

"Turned into a weapon, like X23?" asked Beast.

"Maybe. Won't lie to you. We'll see."

Scott bristled at that. Lyssa was, after all, his clone. Almost his daughter. He began to know how Logan felt, the subject of experimentation he couldn't remember entirely and with a daughter who didn't know or trust him. He decided then and there that whatever happened, he was going to make certain that Lyssa was taught the finer points of being a good guy mutant.

Magneto and Logan were in Washington, checking up on some old contacts of Magneto's at the Latverian embassy.

"Do you want to talk to Doom?" asked the Ambassador. "I have a hotline, and he would like to talk to anyone who can help him to locate the Nazi filth that escaped from your country's maximum security facility."

"Actually," said Wolverine, "both Metal-head and I are resident aliens. This ain't our country, so don't blame us."

A few minutes later, a metal-masked face appeared on the screen. "Ah, Erik. And you... Logan, I believe? To what do I owe this great pleasure?"

Magneto made no small talk. "Vic, I don't like you wild-types, and I'll never pretend to like the way you treat your subjects, but you've always been decent to mutants _per se_, and I am too busy to argue with you about anything else. What do you know about the Red Skull?"

"What do you mean what do I know?"

"Any leads that will help us to find him."

"I have some contacts in the Mossad [A/N the Israeli version of the CIA or of the MI's, they are real]. They have, of course, expressed great interest in finding Nazi war criminals. They have tracked Baron Zemo to the general vicinity of Switzerland, but nothing more specific. My own agents have been scouring the area and they have some leads. If you'd like, you can meet up with a... an Adrian Zmoloka in Geneva. Password '5X-7143-872-XXCCFV.' He will respond with 'DC-567-8H2-GJKLDZS.' Do you have that?"

"Yes," replied Magneto, writing it down.

"Look for him at the Okenschaff Inn. He had blond hair with two black streaks, and sideburns almost to the corners of his lips."

"Thank you," replied Magneto.

Meanwhile, in China, Xian Chung looked at the panel in front of him. How was he to find the secrets the pyramid held? Moreover, how was he to find a way to make them useful?

He didn't have any appointments for a few days, and the Red Skull would contact him tomorrow. So he sat down and waited.


	3. Slayer's Philosophy

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Chapter 3 Slayer's Philosophy

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except for my original characters, of course. But if Marvel wants to use them, they can. Feel free to post this, or any other Glaivester fic, anywhere, but please notify me so I can brag about it. 

Still Friday, in the late afternoon.

Scott was talking to his clonal "daughter." Nick Fury was of course watching via closed-circuit television. Lyssa was consuming massive amounts of food, which Scott took to mean that she had been modified like Talia to grow up very fast.

"So, Lyssa? Why were you at the Red Skull's hideout?"

"We wanted to find out what he was planning. We managed to discover where he was by tracking him via the internet. His contacts are Baron Zemo, known as Zimalover on one of the biochemistry and genetics chat rooms. The Red Skull's own handle is 99 Luftballoons. When I found Kurt I decided to capture him myself."

"What does Sinister want with Kurt?"

"He has superior X-genes. Capturing him would be almost as good as capturing his child. If we can mate him with another powerful mutant, we can create supermutants who will someday rule the world."

"Why did Sinister release Apocalypse?"

"I don't know, and if I did I would not tell you, and giving you such information would probably hurt his plan, anyways, so forget about it. By the way, scanning me telepathically is very difficult, so if any of you tries it, you will be knocked unconscious, do you understand? This power of mine is not suppressable by this silly necklace."

"Okay. Why do you want to produce superior mutants?"

"Because, the universe is a purposeless wasteland that somehow managed to create life. Now that we have the power to do so, we must make it purposeful by creating the world over in our own image. In effect, we are the true gods, and we must remake the world into a world befitting true gods, or else the universe will continue to descend endlessly into purposelessness."

"I don't understand."

"The only purpose in the world is that which we make in the world. Happiness and comfort are nice, but not lasting or particularly meaningful. We have the capacity to shape the world however we want. Many believe in a God Who gives life purpose and meaning by planning a beautiful paradise and by preparing us to accept that paradise. He plans the events of the world to his purpose, and in that planning gives meaning to events. Mr. Sinister knows far better than that. God is a neglectful being who created us and left us. Or rather, he created the circumstances that allowed us to evolve. We must give the world purpose by planning our own paradise, and by making mankind fit for that paradise. Humans are the first creatures alive who have the capacity to direct their own evolution by conscious thought. We are the first who can make meaning of the meaningless. So we must. And if most of us have to die to do so, so be it."

"That's a rather bleak philosophy."

"Essentially, Sinister used to believe that mankind could peaceably be brought to this new paradise, by voluntary eugenics, through breeding or sterilization. But circumstances have convinced him that only war, bloodshed, and elimination of those who do not see the light can bring this new paradise. However, it must be contained. Wars need to be carefully constructed so as to spare the superior and to wipe out the inferior. Planning must be precise. Otherwise, the war could destroy more than it creates."

"So you need destruction before you can have paradise."

"I have read the Book of Revelation. Surely it says the same thing. According to the pre-millennialist interpretation, Christ will only come after seven years of plagues, tyranny, and death and destruction. Sinister, like Apocalypse, is essentially a naturalistic premillennialist."

"Wow." Scott began pondering. "So Sinister and Apocalypse are the same."

"No. Sinister wants to be God, so to speak. Apocalypse wants to serve God, so to speak. Sinister trusts only in his own ability to bring about Paradise. Apocalypse believes that he just has to open the door and let God take control."

"Interesting. So Sinister is essentially a deist?" Scott had studied religious philosophy under Professor Xavier a year or so back..

"Correct. And Apocalypse is theistic, sort of, although he doesn't claim to know God personally. He does know whether God is personal, or just some sort of force of nature, but he trusts Him implicitly to direct evolution toward Paradise."

"Why are you willing to tell me this?"

"So you will understand. I will not say anything that might help you to stop their plans, but telling you what they plan may help you to see the error of your ways and make you join them."

"Sounds like 'they' aren't a 'they,' to me," said Scott. "Sounds like they are probably butting heads, like Kurt and Rogue over religion."

"No," lied Lyssa. "They are in total agreement over all of the important issues. Like the Red Skull. He is dangerous, and will kill too many superior mutants for not belonging to the correct race. This is not acceptable. Both Sinister and Apocalypse are in agreement." 

Lyssa had gotten nervous. She had hoped that the brilliant vision of the future would sway Scott. Unfortunately, he did not appear to be very impressed. Instead, she had nearly given away that her master and Apocalypse were at odds.

"I don't buy it," said Fury to the second SHIELD agent watching the closed-circuit TV. "Apocalypse, from what we know of him, would favor the Red Skull. Just the sort of tyrant who can be used to cause chaos."

"Lyssa," asked Scott, "what if I told you that there was another vision, one in which God was loving, and in which the goal of life was to be nice and kind to others, and to have relationships, and..." Scott realized that he wasn't very religious. He didn't think about God much other than as a generic Nice Guy. Rahne, he felt, had she still been here, would have reamed him out for suggesting that goodness was the way to get to God. A very strong Calvinist, she was always explaining Christ's sacrifice, salvation by grace through faith, et cetera. Jamie, a Baptist [A/N I don't know what he is in the comics, but I'm going with this, I need someone to be a Baptist], had gotten into arguments with her over the nature of predestination, but he knew that she always got exasperated over people who suggested that good deeds made one right with God. As for Kurt, well, Catholicism was, in Scott's opinion even more infinitely complicated, and he didn't want to go there. So he would stick with some feel-good generic presentation.

"What about making friends and having fun, and getting along, and building a better world through cooperation."

Lyssa flinched. "Decadence," she deadpanned. "Decadence. 'Fun' is fine occasionally, as a developmental tool. But until Paradise is achieved, we need to think of all things in teleological terms."

"Huh?" This kid knew more big words than Scott did.

"In terms of serving the ultimate purpose. By the way, I will need something resembling a diaper soon, I fear."

"Why?"

"I believe that my menarche is about to hit. When it does, I will have cycles almost every day, and they will be too massive for normal methods."

Scott didn't particularly like talking feminine hygiene, especially with someone who seemed as undisturbed by it as his "daughter," but nonetheless he was curious. "Uh - why?"

Lyssa stared at him as if he were stupid. "My metabolism has been sped up. Sinister was able to speed up the growing process beginning about a month ago. I won't be normal in terms of metabolism for at least another four months. Until then I will eat, process food, and do everything exceedingly fast." She paused for a second. "Although my body is more efficient at using food and at conserving water, and in concentrating nitrogenous waste, so I don't need to do _everything_ faster. Although I would like to use the girls' room."

Scott pointed the way.

After finishing, Lyssa walked up to Scott and put a hand sympathetically on his shoulder.

"Sinister always said you had potential. Please, consider joining him instead of being with all of these idealists and hippies. I won't lie, you could get killed. But it would be an honorable death, paving the way for a better tomorrow. And if you stand against him, you will be killed anyway."

She sat down and refused to say any more.


	4. The Rescue Party

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Chapter 4 The Rescue Party

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except for my original characters, of course. But if Marvel wants to use them, they can. Feel free to post this, or any other Glaivester fic, anywhere, but please notify me so I can brag about it. 

Saturday morning.

Slab, Juggernaut, and Mystique were all seated in Professor X's office. 

"Now, listen," said Xavier. "You may be wondering why I trust all of you. The answer is that I trust Slab because I have read his mind, I trust Cain because without his helmet I have read his mind, and I trust Mystique because I have read her mind while I was removing Apocalypse's connection from it. I have chosen you to mount a rescue mission for Kurt because we need two really strong people in case we need to bust heads, and someone stealthy, namely, you Mystique. I also think we need someone whose powers allow them to use longer-range attacks, so I am calling in Gambit."

Gambit walked in the door. "Bon jour, mes amis!" Smiling, he walked over to a chair and sat down.

"Now, Logan has contacted me and told me that the Skull is somewhere in Switzerland. You are to go there, to Geneva, in the Blackbird, aka the X-Jet, and to meet them. Now, they will be meeting other people who can help them to find the Red Skull's hideout, and so they probably don't want you hanging around too much, but contact them and make certain that they let you help them when they actually plan their attack."

The Professor put his hand on his head and sighed. "I am also under the impression that Logan and Magneto may try to lose you as soon as you have done your job. They may deliberately try to make certain that you aren't there when they actually find the Red Skull."

"Why?"

"Because I want him brought back alive. They want to kill him."

Mystique frowned. Xavier was unable to read her mind, but he had a feeling that she would not be averse to going along with Magneto's plan. Slab did not care. Juggernaut seemed a little worried. He didn't want to give in to hate and violence again, killing or destroying randomly, but he wasn't certain that killing the Skull would be such a bad thing. Gambit seemed to have some slight sort of block, but the Professor did seem to be able to make out that he wasn't certain what to do when it came down to it. He kept shuffling his cards and grinning as if to challenge the Professor to scan him.

"Mystique, what do we know of the Red Skull's allies?"

"There are four you will have to deal with: Valkyrie, a seven-foot-tall German Amazon who can heal faster than Wolverine and who is immune to poison and, I believe, to mind control. Exchange, who can change two people's consciousnesses for, I believe he said, up to one hour. He has brown hair and black eyes... like Remy's only no red irises. There is Upload, who can make a copy of someone else's mind in his own and hold it for up to fifteen minutes. He is an African, about six-foot three. Finally, there is Captain Axis. He is nearly invulnerable and very strong. Like Captain America only more so. He also has an adamantium shield."

"Anyone else?"

"I would assume so, but he wouldn't say. I know he has an ally in China... a Xian Chung... Pocket, he called him. A mutant with the power to open holes in subspace and to put things in them for storage."

"Interesting," commented the Professor.

"What is de plan, mon ami?" asked Remy.

"You will decide that when you get there."

Meanwhile, in China, the Red Skull was contacting Xian Chung. "Have you discovered anything yet?"

"Just this panel. I don't know the combination to open it."

~But you do.~ spoke a voice in Upload's head. The fifteen minutes that he had had a copy of Mystique's mind gave Apocalypse the needed window to get inside as he had done with Mystique.

Upload walked over to the Red Skull. "I remember the code. Mystique knew it."

"Excellent."

Upload told Xian Chung of the code. Xian pushed all the proper buttons and slowly they began to glow.

Suddenly inside the Mexican pyramid, the Eye began to glow as well. Sauron yelled and jumped out. "What's happening?"

Sinister glared at Apocalypse. "What have you done, you old fool?"

Apocalypse shrugged. "I have done nothing. Someone else must have activated one of the other pyramids."

"Who is your cat's paw?" roared Sinister. The Eye glowed really brightly and then disappeared.

"The knowledge of how to activate the alien technology in the pyramids was recorded on ancient scrolls. No doubt some government has seen fit to try, now that they saw the orb around this pyramid."

"You will die for this."

"No, I won't. You still need me, Sinister. You are smarter than I am, but I and only I can use this alien technology. It has been attuned to my unique physiology. Without it, your ability to enhance mutants will be reduced to using those silly crystals. Besides, I cannot use this pyramid in any way. I am trapped outside of it as is everyone else. So it cannot help me."

Sinister growled. "You better pray that I believe you."

"It doesn't matter whether you do or not. Unless you have decided that the risk I am lying and the risk that I can escape your control if I am lying is greater than the benefits I can give you."

Sinister blasted Apocalypse with the yellow bolts that flew from his fingers. Apocalypse was knocked back into the wall, but left mostly unharmed. "You'd better pray that the calculation keeps working in your favor." Sinister turned away, and then looked back. "Or else I will be much harsher next time." He walked out the door. "Stay in this room, Apocalypse, and don't come out until I tell you. Or I will activate the virus... at least enough of it to cause major damage!"

Surely enough, a second dome had appeared in the Shansi province of China. Apocalypse felt a mild surge of energy, but it managed to evade Sinister's detectors. Then, very quickly, as soon as all of the tech in the pyramid had been activated, the Eye returned. 

The one function of the Eye that was accessible to all was the transportation function. However, Apocalypse dare not use it, for if he did, Sinister would activate the virus. No shielding could protect him form the activation, because it was on a dead-man's switch. That is, if Sinister did not give Apocalypse a special medicine every six hours, the disease would begin to strike, even without Sinister actively activating it.

But Apocalypse knew something that Sinister did not. If all three pyramids were activated, the Eye would be at the next level of power and would be able to cure him when he touched it. Then he could travel to the other two pyramids and connect all of the wires and activate all of the motherboards in order to get the pyramids to full power to begin his plan. Most importantly, each pyramid would need to be charged up by the Eye, a process that would take at least three weeks. He had already booted up this pyramid mostly, and in a few more days, it would be ready and Sinister could not stop it. If he had the third dome erected by then, he could use the Eye to transport away and there would be nothing Sinister could do.

~Upload,~ called Apocalypse. ~Tell Pocket of the weapon found in the third corridor past the statue of Anubis...~

Surely enough, there was a weapon there. A staff of some sort. It reminded Xian Chung of the weapons used in that American TV show,_ Stargate SG-1_. But its effects were apparently different. Xian Chung felt a connection to it, and realized that he could mentally control it. By focusing on another object in the room, he found that he could make that object move. A telekinetic weapon, he thought. Hmm... He put the weapon up his sleeve.

Yes, thought Apocalypse to himself, this weapon would whet the Red Skull's interest. He would give the man just enough to keep him interested in the pyramids, so that he could use him to activate the third one. But he would not give him anything that would enable him to get too powerful just yet. Apocalypse believed in releasing some level of control and on causing some chaos, but even he did not think it wise to give in to chaos completely. He needed control for long enough to mutate the world before he could let go.

Later that afternoon, Mystique, Slab, and Cain were all headed into the Blackbird (aka the X-Jet). Remy had been getting some things and was going to be the last one to board.

"Where is he?" complained Mystique. He is late!"

"There he is!" Slab pointed to the door of the hangar, where Remy was just entering. Tabitha was apparently following him.

"Au revoir, chere!" he said as he waved good-bye.

"Good-bye!" called Tabitha. Then she walked over to another part of the hangar.

"Well, so what were you doing with Boom-Boom?" asked Mystique. 

"She jes' wanted some tips on de t'rowing of explosives, belle. Y'know, our pow'rs are pretty sim'lar if y' t'ink about it. Only I can't make the explosives out of t'in air." Gambit sat down next to Juggernaut in the back, letting Mystique and Kris [A/N Slab] fly the plane.

In the back of the plane, Kitty's head and Tabby's head both popped out of the floor. They phased upwards and finally both were entirely in the plane.

"Thanks for phasing me in here," said Tabitha.

"Like, no biggie! I mean, the men need us, even if they don't know it!"

"Yeah, isn't Remy dreamy?"

"Well," admitted Kitty, "yeah, but he's not really my type. I like guys who are sturdy and muscular. Like Cain."

"Oooo... Well, let's just hope they like cats."

"Huh?"

"We're the cats, you know, you're Kitty-Cat and I am Tabby-Cat."

"Oh, like totally!"

The Blackbird started off, and Kitty barely had time to strap herself and Tabby to a heavy crate so that they wouldn't be thrown around.

Kurt was about to be rescued. Or else they would die trying.


	5. Lessons

****

Chapter 5 Lessons

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except for my original characters, of course. But if Marvel wants to use them, they can. Feel free to post this, or any other Glaivester fic, anywhere, but please notify me so I can brag about it. 

[A/N Not having read Nietzche or _Mein Kampf_, I can't vouch that my take on the Red Skull's philosophy is an accurate portrayal of Nazism. It is my take on what defines the philosophy and actions of the Red Skull.

Also, in this chapter I am going to flesh out the Red Skull a little more. In my previous fiction, I have mainly concentrated on his racism, as that is the aspect that most neatly dovetails into the themes present in _X-Men: Evolution_. In this chapter, the tyrannical aspect is given more play].

While all of the plotting was going on, Kurt was being taught the Nazi philosophy by the Red Skull, except for the brief period of time when he was checking up on Pocket and his adventures with the Chinese pyramid.

"Let us begin by starting with the beginning, that is to say, with first principles."

"Vhich are?" Kurt was wondering what exactly the old Nazi was planning to do with him. Apparently, he wanted Kurt "reeducated" in the proper conduct for a German, according to the principles of the NSDAP [A/N the German acronym for the National Socialist German Worker's Party].

"{Let us talk German. It has been a while since I have used my native tongue.}"

"{Okay.}"

"{The vast majority of people in this world are sheep. There is nothing wrong with this, of course. We need sheep, without sheep, there could be no shepherds. We need followers as well as leaders. But the fact remains that sheep are stupid.}"

"{I disagree with your analogy.}"

"{Quiet. You see, the sheep are there for two reasons. To achieve the plans of the shepherd, and to be a testament to the wisdom of the shepherd. People are like this, but with the added purpose that they also exist for themselves and for their race, their breed, if you will. The superior breed must conquer the inferior breeds and create a society that is a monument to themselves and their kind. They must rule because it is in their nature, and because nature demands it. They must remake the world to their specifications, to create the destiny that they are meant to have.

"{Like sheep, however, the people often do not understand this. Their glorious future, their destiny, is often not on their minds, due to daily concerns such as eating, drinking, sex. But aside from the few remarkable individuals who can be shepherds, the individual lives of the sheep are not important and do not deserve the importance that they give themselves. Unless directed, individuals look after their own interests instead of those of the race, of the society as a whole. And they can betray their breed to others, not think of the good of the race. 

"{Thus, they need leadership. The wise shepherd knows how to direct his sheep. In the same way, the leader must direct his followers to achieve his plan. They, like sheep, are often too ignorant to understand the plan, and so must be made to obey the plan by whatever methods are necessary. Violence is an option, but a crude one which is also costly. If more... covert methods may be used, so much the better. If they might rebel against what you propose, they must be deceived so as to misunderstand you.

"{How to do this? People will believe what they want. They also believe in their leaders. They will expect the leaders to fudge the truth a little, to leave out information, to engage in half-truths. But not to make blatant, easy-to-discover lies. So if you lie, and lie big enough, they will figure that you cannot be that stupid and that you must be telling the truth. They will not believe their eyes if you tell them differently. Truth must be managed to the benefit of the shepherd's goals. People need to be told what is necessary in order to achieve your ends, not necessarily what is true. Because people cannot be trusted to make their own decisions if they might decide against the common good. 

"{Which is not to say that sheep cannot be idiot savants. Once a goal is agreed upon, a strategy or action decided, how to achieve it can be left to the individuals most directly involved. Commanders in the field, for instance, need some degree of autonomy in how they fight their battles...}"

Kurt kept listening. He was increasingly horrified at the Red Skull's cynicism and his willingness to look upon other people as means to an end.

"{But aren't we the master race?}" Kurt asked slyly. "{Aren't we intelligent beyond sheep.}"

"{Excellent question. The master race of sheep is still a race of sheep. We Aryans are superior, but only the best among us are qualified to decide the direction of society. The majority of our people, our flock, if you will, must be led to conquer and subjugate the other breeds, but nonetheless, they are still dumb sheep and must be led to do what is best for their flock and in most cases themselves.}"

So, Kurt mused, even those whom he regards as superior are in the end only his pawns.

The Red Skull went on to give a lesson in political power, in which he quoted Mao Ze Dong about it coming from the barrel of a gun. It was quickly apparent to Kurt that his father's philosophy was entirely based n keeping control and power over a many people as possible by any means possible, and that all other considerations were to be made secondary or even to be ignored.

The scariest thing for Kurt was how easy it was to see how the Red Skull thought. Over the past few years, he had seen enough of the worst of humanity that he understood fully well the school of thought that allowed a person to view other people as mere objects.

The second scariest thing was the fact that the Red Skull went on for three hours more in this vein, and at no point did he drop the sheep analogy. He seemed inordinately fascinated by sheep and shepherds. In fact, he was so fascinated by sheep that Kurt was almost tempted to crack a joke that at one point he had heard at the Institute. Only this joke was of an off-color variety, and its original target were people of a different nationality than the Red Skull. Suffice it to say that Rahne Sinclair had beaten up Bobby after he told it, and no one had ever uttered such a joke again at the X-Mansion, even after Rahne had left.

Kurt was once again given a wonderful meal, and he began to worry about how much longer he was going to have to be here before he would be rescued.


	6. Plans

****

Chapter 6 Plans 

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except for my original characters, of course. But if Marvel wants to use them, they can. Feel free to post this, or any other Glaivester fic, anywhere, but please notify me so I can brag about it. 

[A/N I know very little about what Swiss Banks are actually like, so just pretend that they are like I am portraying them].

Sunday afternoon in Switzerland.

"Hello," said a blond man to Logan, who was sitting at a small cafe near the Okenschaff Inn. The man had two black streaks in his hair.

"5X-7143-872-XXCCFV."

"DC-567-8H2-GJKLDZS."

"Zmoloka."

"Logan."

Wolverine put down the newspaper he had been reading. "So, what do you have for me?"

"We should talk in a more... private place."

"Okey-doke. Listen, Blondie, your room or ours?"

"Yours is less likely to be bugged."

"232."

"See you in ten minutes."

Ten minutes later, Agent Zmoloka was talking with Magneto and Logan in their room.

  
"I believe that the Red Skull has an account at the Geneva Philharmonic Bank [A/N I named the bank after an Austrian gold bullion coin]. It's a secret account, accessible only by its number, and so it is virtually untraceable. However, we have intercepted some of his communications and managed to get the bank and the account number by hacking his phone records. The bank uses automated banking, and so we were able to get a listing of all of the numbers he punched in while talking to them and so we know the account numbers."

"And this helps us, how?" asked Logan.

"Previously the Red Skull was transferring money to American banks. Now he is in Switzerland, or at least we think he is, he can take the money out of the bank itself. So we need to spy on the bank and see if someone takes money out from that account. If they do, we follow them." 

Magneto nodded. "So we put Logan in the bank or near the bank and he can listen for the proper account number. When he does, he can follow that person."

"Exactly."

"How long will it take, Bub?"

"He was transferring money every day. My guess is that he will be making withdrawals every day. So we get there, and we listen."

"And how do I stand in a bank for hours waiting for someone without attracting suspicion? And how do I know that someone will mention the account number orally?"

"On Mondays, there is only one clerk there to do transactions. And he is known for muttering things under his breath. As for not being noticed, all you need to do is sit down on the chairs in the lobby and read the financial information they have there. No one will bother you."

"And if no one gets money from the account on Monday?"

"Well, we'll do it again the next day, although there are more clerks on Tuesdays and less chance you'll hear the number. We can just keep listening until we find it, that's all we can do."

"That's a long shot, I would think," commented Magneto.

"We also have reports of special glassware being mailed to a post office box here in Geneva. The same brand used by Dr. Chamberlain in his genetic marker testing device. There is another shipment coming in on Wednesday. We can follow the person who picks it up."

"Latveria has excellent intelligence for such a small country."

"Von Doom is very attentive towards such things."

"I see that," commented Dr. Doom. "But why not reveal this information to the world?"

"If the Red Skull knows we are on to him, he and Zemo will hide. Besides, we have managed to get information on secure Swiss bank accounts. We have infiltrated the most private country in the world. It would hardly do to telegraph that fact. It could set the world economy into a tailspin, and destroy our contacts that enable us to get such intelligence. Best to find Herr Schmidt secretly and to dispose of him that way as well."

Meanwhile, in his castle hideout, Wulfcraft, Baron Helmut Zemo was putting the finishing touches on his virus alteration device. He was dreaming of once again being able to live in Castle Zemo on the German/Austrian border, where he had grown up. Having been born in 1930, he was seventy-three years old now, although he had managed to maintain the physique of a thirty-year-old through his scientific discoveries. 

"{Is it ready, my friend?}" asked the Red Skull, in German, as he walked in.

"{Ah, so you are speaking the mother tongue again.}"

"{Yes, I have been so used to speaking English while in captivity that I almost forgot it, but it is coming back to me now.}"

"{I have an inert sample of the virus. This instrument I am creating will activate the virulence factor, and add the protein groups that will recognize the correct signals. I am setting it on 'positive detection.'}"

"{That means?}" asked the Red Skull.

"{It will only affect the groups we program it to; as opposed to 'negative detection,' where it affects everyone whom we do not tell it not to affect. 'Negative detection' is more dangerous, but if we need to purify the world of ALL non-Aryans, it is faster.}"

"{I think we should just concentrate on removing the Jewish problem right now.}" The Red Skull looked up thoughtfully.

"{Agreed. I suggest that we start with Israel. They are the nation most likely to react strongly against our plans. And then we attack Latveria with a Gypsy-specified virus. Its population is 25% Gypsy, including its dictator, and it too will try and stop us. Plus, if we kill all of its Gypsies, then we will also be killing Von Doom. He could be a thorn in our side. Once they are out of the way, achieving our vision will be easier. The US will be a tough enemy, but they will be easier to manage. Israel and Von Doom's Latveria are the real concerns, because they would be much more desperate to stop us. Both countires have so many survivors from our death camps and their descendants, that they would be more likely to pull out all of the stops in order to defeat us. Especially Latveria. Von Doom would be willing to sacrifice its entire population to carry out a vendetta. Come to think of it, most of the Gypsies in Latveria would be willing to sacrifice their lives and those of their families in order to stop us. Von Doom has them take national pride very seriously. The rest of the Latverians, however, can be turned easily once they realize that the Gypsies are all dying. The country's relative racial tolerance would quickly dissolve without Von Doom's enforcement. So once we rid the country of him and his kind, it will be ripe for the plucking.}"

Monday morning, in Switzerland.

Logan had been very fortunate in tracking the money from the account. A tall blond man had taken some money out of a safe account in the bank first thing that morning, and the clerk had muttered the account number to himself almost loud enough for a normal person to hear it. For Logan, it was instant recognition. He managed to follow the man out of town, and to a car that dorve off toward the Matterhorn. Logan had managed to get a tracking device planted on the car's bumper, and then went back to discuss the situation with the others, including Raven, Cain, and Kris, who had gotten to the Inn just after dawn.

Up in the mountains, a figure followed the car. A snow-white wolf, with some sort of device on her right foreleg.

Suddenly static and then a voice broke the silence. "See? I told you that this machinery would enable you to leave Canada without losing your powers."

The wolf merely growled.

"Listen, Agent Thompson. We have been contacted by our American counterpart, Fury. He thinks that an old friend of yours may be on his way to do the same thing you are doing. So watch out for him."

The wolf morphed into a snow-white wolverine. The device on her foreleg transmitted the image back to the man on the other end of the line.

"Yes, that's the one."

The wolverine morphed back into a wolf and continued her pursuit.

[A/N Anyone care to guess who the wolf is? I should point out that, as canonical XME did with Juggernaut, I am going to make this character a mutant in my fic, even though the comic version is a demigoddess. I am generally going to avoid having characters in my fics be supernatural. Oh, yeah, I'm also going to pull an Amanda Sefton and take away her more mystical name.]


	7. Slayer Escapes

****

Chapter 7 Slayer Escapes

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except for my original characters, of course. But if Marvel wants to use them, they can. Feel free to post this, or any other Glaivester fic, anywhere, but please notify me so I can brag about it.

Sunday morning, at SHIELD's Washington HQ, while all the stuff in the previous two chapters is going on.

Slayer looked around her room. It was pleasant enough, with a television and a bunch of DVDs. She grabbed a few DVD containers and began leafing through them.

They had _Krull_. That was good. She liked that movie. Sinister watched it practically every week.

So far, she had not been interrogated or poked, prodded, or probed at all. She began wondering what they planned on doing with her. Just as she began to move to the intercom to ask, a nurse walked in.

"Hello," he said. "You would be Lyssa."

"Yes."

"I need to take some blood samples from your arm."

Lyssa "Slayer" Summers complied. "Is that enough? Or do you need to take my vital organs as well?" She made no attempt to conceal the fact that she resented being here. She wanted very much to go back to Sinister. That would wait, for now, but that didn't mean she couldn't make it clear just how much contempt she held these people in.

"I don't think that that will be necessary."

Suddenly the nurse gasped, croaked a little, and fell forward into Slayer. She deftly pushed his body to her side. She was face-to-face with a girl a little older than she, with adamantium claws extending out of her hands.

"I was sniffing around and I discovered they had another kid here. Come on. I won't let these butchers get you."

"And you would be?"

"Don't have a name, so to speak. Call me X23."

"Well, X23, could you help me with this collar they put on me? It's so cruel!"

X23 narrowed her eyes. "Later. Let's get you out of here first."

"It would be easier if I had access to my powers."

"I don't trust you. I hate them more, but I won't just unleash your powers until I know I can trust you. Comprehende?"

"Comprehende."

X23 nodded and the two set off into the hall. "By the way," interjected X23, "the nurse shouldn't be hurt too badly."

Monday morning:

In a deserted field near Bayville, a small transport vessel containing the Eye appeared and landed. Out stepped a humanoid pterodactyl. 

"Okay, Essex. I am supposed to find the girlfriend and the baby."

"Correct."

"I will." Sauron swept up into the sky and then flew towards the Institute.

Wanda and Talia were downstairs in one of the basements of the Institute. Talia was playing dress-up, while Wanda watched on and laughed at her. She was literally growing up _so_ fast. At least without Magneto around, Wanda was able to take off her necklace and not be afraid her powers would go out of control.

Professor Xavier had been trying to teach her telepathically, but she was already physically outgrowing her mental age. Assuming that her ability to learn would be affected by how developed she was, Wanda was terrified that she would become retarded if she continued to mature so rapidly. Moreover, she couldn't be revealed to the outside world because her rapid aging would cause questions to be asked, so she had little access to kids her own age.

Unfortunately, the upstairs was not guarded so well, especially against a flying intruder. Sauron had made it in, and had incapacitated Storm, the only X-Man to run into him. He quickly hypnotized her, and got her to tell him where Wanda and Talia were. He slowly made his way down to the basement where they were playing.

"Hello, Talia," said the evil pterodactyl-man when he saw her. "Come with me!"

Wanda looked up. "No!" she screamed, realizing that this must have been the guy who had confronted Kurt in the pyramid [A/N see "The Apocalypse Effect"]. "Go away!" Blue flames appeared on her hands.

Sauron stared at her and she went limp. "You too..." his telepathic powers quickly cowed Wanda into submission.

X23 had decided to take Slayer to the Institute, where she (X23) would try to get a few things for the other girl on the premise that she needed them for herself. She figured that if she could avoid Professor X, she could find a way to cajole some of the teens at the institute to provide her with food and whatever else she might need to hide out for awhile. She would have talked to Logan, but Slayer had informed her that he was not there.

In any case, they hopped a few trains and hitched a ride or two, and reached Bayville by Monday morning. During this time, X23 managed to swipe enough food to fuel Slayer's advanced metabolism. She also noticed that the second girl had seemed wounded at first, but had healed with amazing rapidity.

"You have a healing factor, too?" asked X23.

"I don't naturally, but I have been enhanced."

"What are your natural powers?" X23 realized that she hadn't asked, although she had known that Slayer was a mutant because non-mutant children do not get stuck in that section of SHIELD HQ.

"I can shoot green optic blasts."

"Can't one of the X-Men do that?"

"Yes, but red in his case. We're related."

"So you can't control yours either?" X23 motioned to the green glasses.

"No. Of course," she took the glasses off, "these_ are_ unnecessary when I have this necklace," she fingered the collar around her neck. "but they let me keep them in case the necklace's power goes out for a second. Wouldn't want my eyes to suddenly demolish a room, now, would we?"

It just so happens that Slayer and X23 reached the Institute just in time for X23 to notice a strange-looking creature hauling a teenage girl and some little blue child off of the grounds. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew that it must have been bad. With a snarl, she ran in the direction she had seen the creature going, with Slayer running behind her.

They came to a clearing where the strange dinosaur-like man was entering a weird-looking pyramid-shaped vessel.

Sauron led Wanda and Talia into the vessel. At its center, the Eye glowed menacingly.

"Soon," commented Sauron, "its power will be enough to operate these vessels remotely." For the time being, the Eye had to teleport with the vessels, making it somewhat more vulnerable to attack. Nonetheless, Sinister was less concerned with the Eye than was Apocalypse, as his plans did not absolutely require the Eye. It would speed up his enhancements, but he could duplicate its effect, he was certain. So he let Sauron use it to capture Talia and Wanda, who were vital to his plans.

Suddenly Wanda stirred. Her abilities had apparently made it more difficult for Sauron to control her, although he did not yet realize it. She noticed Sauron fiddling with the controls. She remembered vaguely being brought here and recognized the vessel as being the one that had been sighted over the pyramid in China and that had been described by Cain from in the pyramid. (Cain had gotten the best look at it.)

She used her powers to try to stop it from taking off, and then to stop it from teleporting. But she was failing, she could see that. All she could think of was Kurt, and that she loved him and wanted him to be there with her. They were in this nightmare together.

Talia was woken up by the strength of the power Wanda was emitting. Her telepathy had also given her a little bit of resistance to Sauron as well. Slowly her mind connected to Wanda's due to the overwhelming force Wanda was using to try and stop the pterodactyl-man from taking them. Then she felt it. Her mother's overwhelming desire that Kurt be here to... to help, to comfort, to hold her, anything.

Somehow, Wanda's powers managed to temporarily enhance Talia's telepathy so that she was able to link to her father.

Kurt was hearing the Red Skull drone on about the methodology of waging war, when he suddenly sat upright and screamed, "TALIA!"

Talia's telepathy should have been too weak to do this, but the combination of the power of the Eye, and of Wanda's powers, which were being used at full force, somehow allowed Talia to connect Wanda and Kurt's mind for a split second, as well as connecting her mind to two other people who were running at the vessel from the nearby woods.

At that split second, the vessel disappeared, teleporting back to Mexico. But Talia, and Wanda were thrown out of the vessel and reappeared in the room with Kurt in Castle Wulfcraft. And a spark of blue fire left as the vessel disappeared burst into a flame and consumed Slayer and X23, who were deposited in the snow outside the castle. 

Wanda and Talia had been knocked unconscious.

"Well, well," cackled the Red Skull. So your girlfriend and her daughter have decided to join us? I don't know how they got here, but I know who they are. Valkyrie! Captain Axis!"

Wanda and Talia were soon collared and led away.

"Now, be good, and I'll let your filthy Gypsy girlfriend live. And maybe, just maybe, your daughter as well!" hissed the Red Skull at Kurt.

X23 and Slayer were lying unconscious in the snow. Dusk was setting in, and they would likely freeze, possibly to death if their healing powers were too slow.

An arctic wolf, snow-white, gazed at them, and then morphed into a stately pale woman, dressed all in white. 

"Alpha Flight, come in Alpha Flight!" she called into the device on her right arm.

"Yes, Agent Thompson?"

"Two kids just appeared here... one of them with green shades, the other with..." she stared. X23's claws had been unsheathed. "One of them with Wolverine-like claws."

"Have you located the Red Skull?"

"Yes, he's in Castle Wulfcraft." 

"Can you take the kids to safety?"

"I have just enough energy to do that."

"Then do so, and meet up with your United States counterparts in the Okenschaff Inn!"

"Agent Thompson signing out!"


	8. Snowbird

****

Chapter 8 Snowbird

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except for my original characters, of course. But if Marvel wants to use them, they can. Feel free to post this, or any other Glaivester fic, anywhere, but please notify me so I can brag about it.

Nighttime, Monday.

Logan had just discovered that Tabby and Kitty had stowed away. They had kept hidden in the Blackbird, which was a mile or so out of the city. When he got close to the Blackbird, he smelled them immediately. He was berating them when suddenly a familiar smell assaulted his nose.

"Anne? Anne Mackenzie?" Logan turned around.

"Actually, I got married to a fellow Mountie. It's Anne McKenzie Thompson now."

"Who the Hell are you?" asked Tabby, with her usual tact and good taste.

"The name is Snowbird. I'm a mutant [A/N again, I remind you, I have altered her back story to remove the mystical element, in the comicverse she is a demigoddess, the daughter of Nelvanna the goddess of the Aurora Borealis and Canadian Archeologist Richard Easton] who derives her power from the magnetic currents of the Aurora Borealis. I have the ability to shapeshift into any creature native to Canada - although I am always a white color, even if the animal is not normally white."

"I used to work with her in Alpha Flight," explained Logan. "We were a Canadian tema of superheroes - some of us mutants, others got our powers through other means."

"What are you doing here?" asked Kitty.

"I've come to help take down the Red Skull. Alpha Flight is busy currently, and I was the only member they could spare."

"How're you even healthy?" asked Logan suspiciously. "I thought that there were special magnetic pulses that sustained you whose locations roughly corresponded to Canada. I was always told that if you left Canada, you'd lose your powers and then begin to age rapidly."

Snowbird smiled. "This device," she tapped her arm, transfers the energies I need to me via satellite. So I can now travel for missions abroad." Suddenly she frowned. "By the way, Logan, I found a relative of yours, I think, in the mountains. I took her to the Okenschaff Inn."

"A relative?" Logan sniffed carefully. "X23! And another smell... Slayer!"

"Yes, that's what they called her at the Inn, Slayer. But the other girl, no one at the Inn knew her name."

Logan thought a second. "They wouldn't," he stated plainly. "Kris, Raven, and Erik never knew her."

"Who is X23?"

"A clone of me, made by the government. The process was imperfect, so the clone came out as a female version of me."

"Are you certain that that was not the original intention?"

Logan shrugged. "Perhaps. I know that Slayer was intended to be female. She was made by Mr. Sinister, though."

Snowbird looked thoughtful. "Who is Mr. Sinister? Sounds familiar."

"Nathaniel Essex?"

"Yes! He was implicated in a few missing persons cases last year. But we never found him."

"He's also involved in this Apocalypse business."

Snowbird looked worried. That's what the rest of Alpha Flight is currently working on. They're checking possible sites where Apocalypse might build bases."

"Well," said Logan, "you girls come back to the Inn. Snowbird? You want to stay with us? I'm sure we can get an extra room or two. Or you can bunk with Raven and the two girls here... actually, make that four girls, including Slayer and X23."

"I suppose it would be safer."

Later that night, they were discussing the plans.

"Okay, so Castle Wulfcraft," said Logan. "Great. Thanks, Anne, that makes it a lot easier, now that we have the Red Skull tracked down. So what are we up against?"

"Upload's only offensively useful power is that he can make you dizzy when he uploads your mind,' explained Raven (Mystique). "Exchange - if he touches you and another person, he can switch your minds, so he could try to get the Red Skull to take Juggernaut's body or something. Better attack those two from far away."

Adrian Zmoloka nodded. "I'm a sharpshooter. I can take 'em out." For the only wild-type (non-mutant) in the group, he seemed remarkably at ease.

"Captain Axis," Raven continued, "is nearly invincible. And he has an adamantium shield. So I figure Juggernaut would be a good bet to take him."

"Valkyrie is like Logan, only more so, and much, much stronger. So I suggest that Logan and Slab try to take her on."

"And I," said Magneto, will make certain that Captain Axis and Valkyrie do not use metal shielding."

Gambit nodded. "And what about moi?"

Raven looked over at him. "You'll take care of anyone we don't know. The only other person we might worry about is his Chinese connection. His name is Xian Chung, he goes by the codename of Pocket. He was the one, I believe, who activated the pyramid in China. He might be coming here to make a report or something; it seems sensible to me that he would."

"He's the one that can store stuff in a side dimension?" asked Logan. Raven nodded.

"As for myself, I might as well do reconnaissance," suggested Raven. "Snowbird can maybe help with that?" Snowbird nodded her assent.

"What about the girls?" asked Magneto. "Surely Tabby and Kitty should be given a role, as they will come after us anyway." Logan stared angrily. "You know it's the truth. So we might as well get them to do something useful."

"They'll look after Slayer and X23." Logan looked at Erik in a challenging manner. "That's a mighty important job."

~Logan!~ Came the Professor's voice in Wolverine's head.

~Yes, Prof?~

~I have been using Cerebro, and there is something you should know.~

~Slayer is missing?~

~Why, yes.~ The Professor "sounded" shocked. ~But that's not what I wanted to tell you.~

~Slayer is with us. She just appeared here, along with X23. It's a long story.~

~And one I don't need to know right now. But I wanted to tell you. Wanda went missing, as did Talia, and my scans indicate that they are somewhere near where you are. Actually, that Talia is, but I assume that Wanda is with her. It appears that their powers are suppressed, so it's hard to find them, but apparently Talia's enhanced metabolism makes it impossible to completely suppress her telepathy. I can detect her whether she is actively using a power or not.~

Logan told the others what he had heard from Xavier. "Listen, everyone. We go after the elf, the witch, and the elfling next morning. So rest up."

Back in Castle Wulfcraft, the Red Skull was almost finished his preparations with Zemo.

"In a mere twelve hours," said Zemo, "the virus will be ready. We have the perfect means of transport."

"And they are?" asked the Red Skull.

"Kurt's powers are affected by magnetism. That's why he can teleport farther north and south than east and west, because he is aligned with the Earth's magnetic field. If I create a strong enough magnetic field between here and my base in Israel with my EM satellite and my magnetic devices here, Kurt can teleport there, release the virus, and teleport back in mere seconds."

"Kurt won't do it," sighed the Skull. "He hasn't been educated long enough to understand these things as you and I do."

"If he isn't responding to your lessons, why don't you just use Exchange to transfer your consciousness to him. I also need the Gypsy's power to amplify my magnetic pulse, so why don't we get Exchange to transfer Upload and her so he can do it."

"I don't trust Upload."

"Or Pocket. He will be here in the morning."

"I am worried that his experience in the pyramid makes him untrustworthy. I sense that there is some force at work there manipulating me - or trying to."

"We can't use you or I or Valkyrie. I won't be put in the body of a dirty Gypsy!"

"True," sighed the Red Skull. "Upload it is, then. But use Valkyrie in Kurt's body. Just so Upload won't try to get rid of me!"

"Agreed." Zemo went back to work.

"And when will we try Latveria?"

"We will infect the Gypsy girl in thirty-six hours and drop her off in Latveria. She can spread the illness." Zemo smiled ,but his mask prevented it from showing.

"What are the symptoms?" asked the Red Skull.

"First, high fever. Then your body gets lots of blemishes. Then you begin to dissolve. By the time you die, you look like your have already been dead for a year."

"How gruesome." The Red Skull laughed, and began planning for the genocide that was to come.


	9. Castle Wulfcraft

****

Chapter 9 Castle Wulfcraft

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except for my original characters, of course. But if Marvel wants to use them, they can. Feel free to post this, or any other Glaivester fic, anywhere, but please notify me so I can brag about it.

[A/N This story should be taking place in 2003, so according to the timeline I am setting up, September 11 would have occurred around the beginning of season 2]

Tuesday morning, Switzerland

9:00 am. Two hours before the beginning of a second Holocaust. Two hours before his plans would begin. The Red Skull sat in the throne in the throne room of the castle, and breathed in deeply. Life was good. And to think that a mere three weeks before, he had been in stasis again. The last time he had been brought out had been right after September 11, for two weeks. He had used the time to get acquainted with the internet. He had managed to lead everyone on for a whole two weeks before they realized that he did not have any information on Osama bin Laden. During the 1990s, bin Laden had been reported to have discussed possible biological weapons plans with Baron Zemo, and as the Red Skull had been a friend of the Baron's father, it was assumed that he might have some information that would have been useful. He didn't, though, other than discovering the Baron's screen name in an internet chat room, information that he managed to keep from himself and to disguise even from the most powerful telepaths.

Now what to do about his granddaughter?

The Red Skull sighed. She was a mutant, and potentially a very powerful one. But she was half Gypsy, and honestly that was way too much. He didn't want to kill her, because he knew that that would alienate his son. But maybe he could prevent her from having kids and further polluting the gene pool.

He looked out of the window. A snow-white eagle was flying overhead. This struck the Red Skull as rather odd, but he wasn't certain if such eagles were native to this area or not. Ornithology had never interested him.

Looking out toward the road, the Red Skull noticed that Herr Grappenhaur was returning rather early from the banking and shopping he had been doing for the opccupants of the castle. He had only been sent out five minutes ago. Oh well, maybe he needed something.

Another servant of Baron Zemo opened the door for Herr Grappenhaur. "Guten mornen." 

"Guten mornen." Herr Grappenhaur entered briskly, and looked around. "{I forgot a slip that I am going to need at the bank.}"

"Ah."

Herr Grappenhaur walked up to his room, looking all around as he did so. ON his way back, he tipped his head at the doorman, and left.

Logan watched from behind the snowbank as Herr Grappenhaur came around and morphed into Mystique.

"Okay," she said, "I didn't get a good look, that would arouse suspicion, but I did see that Zemo's lab is exactly where Mr. Grappenhaur told us it would be."

"Of course," said Gambit. "Monsieur Gropin' hair wouldn't lie to moi, now would he?" He held the real Herr Grappenhaur with his left hand while brushing his chin with a charged card. "Not when 'e knows d' consequences o' de decep-see-on."

The snow-white eagle also landed, morphing into Snowbird. "Aerial reconnaissance suggests that the least guarded area is right here." She pointed to a small area on a diagram of the castle. "If we go in there, we might be able to get a few people in before he notices. Then we'll be able to subdue him more easily."

"Why?" asked Cain. "I can just go in and pound him. Don't need no subtlety."

"Do you plan on getting Kurt, and maybe the Witch and Elfling killed, Jughead?" asked Logan. "The Red Skull can't stop you, but he can slow you down. Which means that he will have time to set plans in motion that could hurt a lot of other people."

"So," said Slab. "What's the plan?"

"Snowbird and I will enter the castle from above," answered Mystique. "Logan, Remy, Erik, and Adrian will enter from the side entrance. I'll disguise myself, and everyone else can take on people as they come. But try to avoid it until we're all there."

"Can't Anne disguise herself, too?" asked Slab.

"I can only shapeshift into animals," replied Snowbird.

"First we will find and rescue Kurt, and if they are there in the castle, Wanda and Talia as well. You and Slab," Mystique looked at Juggernaut, "will come through the front door as soon as we give you the signal."

"Talk to us via walkie-talkie. Got it." Juggernaut saluted in a slightly teasing manner.

So a half hour later, Gambit was picking the lock on the back door to the castle. It opened after about a minute, and he, Magneto, Wolverine, and Agent Zmoloka walked inside. 

Meanwhile, two eagles, one brown and one white descended on an outdoor porch of the castle. One transformed into a snake, the other into a white arctic rat of some sort. They moved inside as fast as they could, using various holes in the castle's structure.

Finding Wanda and Talia was easy for Snowbird, as was finding Kurt for Mystique. Wanda and Talia were in a dungeon, Kurt in a sumptuous bedroom guarded by Valkyrie. Both Mystique and Snowbird had small communicators (Snowbird's device enabling her to leave Canada could shrink when it needed to due to her transformations). Each one relayed to Kris and Cain that their time would come soon, but to wait until Logan and company had managed to free Wanda and Talia to come in.

Logan quickly made his way up to Wanda's cell. The guard was a normal wild-type human, and easily knocked out. Then he used his claws to destroy the big metal door and to get into the dungeon. Wanda and Talia were both drugged so as to decrease their mutant powers in case their necklaces failed, and so they were too groggy to help Loagna much, and he flung them over his shoulders to take them out of there.

As they approached Baron Zemo's lab, the seven people (Snowbird, Wolverine, Magneto, Agent Zmoloka, Gambit, Wanda, and Talia) began discussing with Mystique whether or not Slab and Juggernaut should be called in before or after taking the lab.

"Secure the lab first, but after that, I think we can," observed Mystique. Or rather, a snake with Mystique's head. "Only Valkyrie is guarding him, so you can attack her and secure Kurt's safety right after they break in. We can alert the Red Skull to our presence."

Zemo was working diligently on getting the virus activated and adjusted so as to only affect Jews. As Jews were somewhat ethnically diverse, it was difficult to get a proper marker to launch onto, but Zemo figured that at least 95% of Ashkenazis and 75% of other groups would be affected.

"One hour more," he said to the Red Skull next to him. "the treatment has gone on for three hours now, and one more hour before the virus reaches full potency."

Suddenly the door exploded. Gambit stepped in, charged card at the ready.

The Red Skull pressed a button on his belt, and a net fell on Gambit. A jolt of electricity circulated, and Gambit lost his powers. He also became quite woozy.

Logan suddenly barreled in, followed by a huge polar bear. Both were almost caught by a net, but just made it to the Skull. But Zemo hit them with a blast from a ray gun he was holding. They were shot back into the room, and the bear, dazed momentarily, morphed back into Snowbird.

Logan didn't hesitate. He knew they were in for trouble. He alerted Mystique to tell Juggernaut and Slab to attack the castle, now.

Adrian Zmoloka scooted from one side of the door to the other, all the time staying in the hallway, and taking a quick shot at Zemo. Not having time to aim, the shot missed the Baron's head, but grazed his left shoulder.

Magneto stayed back, realizing that the room had shielding that would prevent him form using his power effectively. Logan managed to dodge a few shots and to kick Baron Zemo so that he hit his head on a wall and was knocked out. 

Wolverine was then shot by a ray gun by the Red Skull, but fortunately, he was close enough to the device that was modifying the viruses that he was propelled by the blast into the machine, which crashed onto the floor. He lapsed into unconsciousness.

Magneto and Agent Zmoloka had managed to get the net off of Remy, who revived, but without any of his mutant abilities. He still had, however, his other talents. He managed to dodge a shot by the Red Skull and to smash the ray gun out of his hand with his bo staff. Then he plunged the bo into the virus-modifying device, causing it to spark and then to smoke. It had obviously stopped working. 

The Red Skull had been using various methods to keep himself young and fit, and he quickly confronted Remy and punched him in the jaw. Remy, his weapon still stuck in the machine, tried to respond, but his strength had still been lessened by his encounter with the net. Two more punches knocked him out entirely. 

Zmoloka stuck his head in again, but the Red Skull brought Remy in front of him and used him as a shield while he grabbed the ray gun. Zmoloka fired anyway, hoping that a shot would penetrate Remy and then hit the Red Skull [A/N Zmoloka worked for Doom, think he'd care if he killed Remy in the process?], but instead he hit Remy's body armor, which managed to stop the shot from going too far.

The Skull shot Zmoloka, who was propelled into the wall.

Magneto decided to try to do something, and ran into the room, as Snowbird morphed into a white wolf and charged the Skull. He shot Snowbird, again sending her to the wall, and this time knocking her out, but Erik managed to tackle him and send him to the ground.

As Magneto and the Red Skull rolled around, with Magneto trying to remove the gun from the Skull's grasp, a loud crash was heard.

Down near the front entrance to the castle, Slab and Juggernaut were storming in. Captain Axis suddenly appeared from a bedroom and threw his shield at Slab, who blocked it with an arm. Slab, at his full height [A/N he has the power to adjust his size and mass to some degree], jumped onto Captain Axis and began wrestling. 

Unfortunately, it ended quickly, with Captain Axis throwing him into Juggernaut, who toppled over. However, he quickly got up and charged the Captain, who had retrieved his shield.

Juggernaut ran right into Captain Axis, who was crushed against a wall. Nonetheless, the Nazi answer to Captain America kept hitting Cain, unlatching two of the four hooks on his helmet.

Slab got up and was prepared to charge, when Upload confronted him. A quick scan of his brain, and Slab became very dizzy. 

Juggernaut managed to beat the tar out of Captain Axis, and to throw his shield into a wall, when Valkyrie, who had been called away from guarding Kurt, attacked him from behind, unlatching the other two hooks and then removing his helmet. 

Exchange dropped from a balcony and, grabbing Cain's head, transferred the consciousnesses of Juggernaut and Valkyrie, leaving Cain suddenly to face an enemy using his own strength. He was thrown into a wall by his own body, now inhabited by the German Amazon. He was quickly pummeled into unconsciousness, followed by Slab.

Magneto, meanwhile, had managed to get a hold of the Red Skull's gun and to throw it out of the window. Logan had recovered and was tearing apart the virus-altering machine.

Suddenly a Chinese man walked into the room. He pulled a ray gun out of his sleeve and shot Magneto, who was thrown against a wall. Logan dodged once, but was then hit as well.

Noon, Switzerland.

Logan, Juggernaut (back in his original body), Slab, Magneto, Adrian Zmoloka, Gambit, Snowbird, Wanda, and Talia were all locked away in a dungeon. Zemo and Captain Axis were both still unconscious, as were Slab and Zmoloka. Valkyrie was as good as new, and back to guarding Kurt.

The Red Skull berated the would-be rescuers who were still conscious with his anger for their delaying of his plans. 

"The virus isn't ready now! And you destroyed the sample container! I'll have to start the procedure all over again! It'll take at least four days! You will pay for this!"

Back in Kurt's room, he was reading a book on the art of war, while his mother, disguised now as a mouse, watched and waited for a good time to try to free him. She hadn't before because she had realized the room to be locked and that with Kurt' powers apparently suppressed, he couldn't get out of there even without Valkyrie guarding it.

Suddenly the Red Skull walked in. "Come with me." He led Kurt out. 

"The time has come," said the Skull. To show you the choices you must make. To toughen you."

"Vhat?"

"You have two choices. Kill Wanda Maximoff or watch me kill Talia."


	10. Here Comes the Cavalry

****

Chapter 10 Here Comes the Cavalry

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except for my original characters, of course. But if Marvel wants to use them, they can. Feel free to post this, or any other Glaivester fic, anywhere, but please notify me so I can brag about it.

Cain Marko looked about the dungeon. Everyone had an inhibitor collar on. Fortunately enough, part of his powers were that they were "unihibitable." However, he was strapped to the walls of the dungeon by solid blocks of pure adamantium, and his hands and feet were bound to each other so that he could not possibly escape. It would have been different if he could have had a running start. His mutation warped the laws of relativity, allowing him to pick up lots and lots of mass as he accelerated, much as Blob gained mass when attached to a large gravitational force. The force and momentum in his body could increase even to the point of being able to break a wall of adamantium, if he were able to get enough speed. But when motionless, the Juggernaut could not managed to break free of such a solid, powerful metal.

Cain wondered at the limits of his power. Surely, even he had some limits. Something had to be able to kill him, although so far nothing, not even a full-power mindblast from Xavier, could hurt him for more than a few hours. Certain temperatures and chemicals could make him dormant, as they did in his stasis chamber, but they couldn't kill him. 

Valkyrie had come to take Wanda and Talia out. Cain had screamed at this, but he was powerless to do anything about it. He quickly quieted down and glowered at the dungeon.

Mystique had followed the Red Skull, and realizing that on her own she would not be able to stop him from doing whatever he wanted with Kurt, was trying to pick the locks on Juggernaut's shackles, but without any success. To avoid detection, she was taking the form of a mouse, although her tail was forming into various keys. Before she had tried to rescue him, she had made him aware of her presence by scurrying around on the floor in front of him and slowly morphing into various rodents with the letters of her codename printed successively on each one. So Cain didn't try to crush the mouse near his hand, which he might have done had he not known who it was.

Kurt was in another dungeon now, with Wanda tied up in a chair in front of him, and with the Red Skull behind a pane of glass, holding Talia by the throat. Kurt held in his hands a sword.

"You must decide, Kurt. Kill Wanda or I will strangle Talia." The Red Skull's grip was tightening, and Talia struggled fruitlessly against his grip. "I'd say you have another minute before her trachea collapses."

Kurt looked back and forth at Talia and Wanda. "Do it," murmured Wanda. "Kill me. Don't let our daughter die."

Kurt looked back at Talia. She was flailing, but each kick was less powerful than the last. She was dying. He looked at Wanda and raised the sword.

"Decapitate your Gypsy slut!" roared the Red Skull.

Kurt prepared to deal the fatal blow.

Suddenly the stone wall behind the Red Skull blew out in a flash of green. He lost his grip on Talia, who fell to the floor.

A white-haired girl with two black stripes appeared in the doorway. She lifted her green goggles again and blasted the Skull in the chest. He was pushed back slightly, and then recovered and drew a pistol and shot the girl in the chest. With a normal bullet. She collapsed.

Another girl, Kitty this time, charged at the Red Skull. He shot at her, but she phased through the bullets and ran through him, then solidified and kicked him from behind. He turned around to reveal emerald quartz armor underneath his green uniform, which had protected him from Slayer's blast. He grabbed at Kitty, who phased again.

From behind, an explosion knocked the Red Skull over. Tabitha stood over his body, gloating.

At that moment, Valkyrie and Pocket charged in. Tabitha jumped out of the way, and from the opening that Slayer had blasted, X23 appeared, making a prodigious leap onto Valkyrie, tearing into her with her claws. Pocket withdrew a special grenade from his sleeve, that would utterly destroy anything within a five-foot radius but nothing outside, and tossed it at Tabitha.

Slayer, with the last of her strength, blasted the grenade, totally disintegrating it, before it got near Tabitha. Then she lost consciousness. She was kept alive, however, by the healing factor that Sinister had added to her.

Tabitha quickly bombarded Pocket with her energy charges, knocking him out completely.

X23 and Valkyrie were locked in mortal combat, neither one taking too much damage. X23's healing factor was slightly better than Logan's making her even more of a match for Valkyrie on the recuperation front.

Tabitha now began attacking the Red Skull, who was surprisingly agile in dodging her energy charges.

Kitty, meantime, phased herself over to Kurt and Wanda and freed them from their necklaces by phasing them off of them. Wanda was too drugged with power-suppressing drugs to be able to do more than light up her hands, but Kurt immediately teleported to the battle that was going on.

Grabbing Valkyrie, he teleported her around the room multiple times, leaving her somewhat weakened and exhausting himself. He slumped into a corner to recuperate, and X23 then attacked with a vengeance, attempting to rip Valkyrie from limb to limb.

Kitty managed to phase herself through various areas of the castle to find the dungeon where the other mutants were being held. She quickly freed them all, including Juggernaut, who charged through the walls to join battle against the Red Skull. Exchange and Upload had also managed to join battle by this time, knocking Kurt and Tabitha out. X23 had managed to dodge both men, and Juggernaut, not having his helmet to shield him from their powers, simply grabbed a chunk of rock and threw it at them to keep them away from X23.

Realizing that he was beaten, the Red Skull retreated to a corner of the room and slipped out using a secret trapdoor. Exchange and Upload followed suit. Juggernaut, however, managed to catch Valkyrie and to prevent her from leaving as he slowly crushed her head.

"Wait, no!" hollered Logan. "Don't kill her Cain, you don't want to go back to what you were!"

Cain considered a moment, and then knocked Valkyrie out with a swipe of his fist. He ran to another room, and came back with a metal beam which he twisted around Valkyrie so she couldn't get loose. "When she has healed enough to be out of danger, let's put an inhibitor collar on her!" he stated.

During this time, Mystique had run to Kurt to make certain that he was all right, which it appeared he was. Being the only mutant here other than X23, Juggernaut, and Kitty who was not either exhausted or whose powers had not been somewhat suppressed by drugs, she immediately called out to X23 to come with her to check out Baron Zemo and Captain Axis.

By the time they got to the infirmary, though, Zemo and Axis were gone, apparently having been spirited away by the Red Skull after he had departed. So the only captives they had taken were Valkyrie and Pocket.


	11. Faustian Bargain

****

Chapter 11 Faustian Bargain

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except for my original characters, of course. But if Marvel wants to use them, they can. Feel free to post this, or any other Glaivester fic, anywhere, but please notify me so I can brag about it.

[A/N Sorry, I'm delaying the Rogueneto until next story. Also, only one more chapter after this one in this story].

Tuesday evening, Switzerland.

Fortunately, most of the lab was still here, so it did not look as if Zemo and the Red Skull had been able to take much equipment with them. SHIELD agents had come in and were confiscating or destroying everything that might be used to create the genocidal virus.

Upon discovering that the Red Skull had three-quarters activated the first sample of virus, SHIELD made certain that none of its agents on the ground had any known Jewish ancestors. The two that did were immediately quarantined, as was Kitty.

Doctor Chamberlain was freed, much to his joy.

Unfortunately, there was very bad news.

"Folks," said Fury. "It looks like Kitty was infected. So were two of our agents. There must have been traces of the virus on or in the Red Skull and she must have caught it when she came into contact with him. From what we know of the virus, symptoms should appear within forty-eight hours and she will most likely be dead within ninety-six."

Kitty, upon hearing this, became very frightened and began to cry.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" asked Logan.

"We'll try, but no, I don't think we can save her."

An hour later, Kurt, Wanda, and Talia were sitting on a balcony of the castle, very sad, when they heard a humming noise. Suddenly a being with silverish-pinkish metallic hair rose up on a metal horse, and stared at them.

"Who are you?" asked Kurt.

"I am a servant of Sinister. Don't you remember me?"

"Ruckus?" asked Kurt.

"I am War now. I have an offer to make you. I have here," he pointed to a vial in his left hand, "a cure for what ails Kitty. All I ask in return is a sample of Talia's tissue." He held out a syringe. "Oh, I also ask that Slayer be returned to Sinister. In return, I will give you this mind-cube." He held out a yellow cube, about a foot-long on each side. [A/N not the cosmic cube] "It will allow a telepath like Xavier to download the contents into Talia's brain piecemeal. So she won't grow up... without growing mentally."

Kurt should have been more cautious. He didn't know if he could trust Ruckus or not. But he wasn't. And Wanda, seeing an opportunity to save her daughter from mental retardation, encouraged him. He bamfed into the infirmary where Slayer was healing, and bamfed her out onto the balcony. He grabbed the syringe, and asked what to do.

"Just take a little tissue," explained Ruckus. Put the syringe in her earlobe. It will collect a little blood, a little epithelial tissue, etc.

Kurt did as he was asked and returned the syringe to Ruckus. "Thank you," explained Ruckus, as he picked up Slayer, saluted, and flew off into the distance.

Kurt looked at the vial. "Take orally," it stated. He bamfed into Kitty's quarantine cell and gave the vial to her. "It's a cure. Drink it!"

Kitty, figuring she had nothing to lose, did so.

"What the Hell is he doing?" demanded Nick Fury.

A few minutes later, Kurt explained it to him. Kurt had been allowed out of quarantine, because everyone there would have already been exposed to the virus, and seeing as he was not Jewish, it was unlikely that he would be affected.

"And you believed Sinister?" asked Fury incredulously. "We'll scan the cube. If it checks out, Xavier can try it. As for Kitty, well, we'll see what happens."

As it happened, by the next day, Kitty's body was clear of the virus (Zemo had designed an easy test that detected the virus itself and it was described in detail in his notes), and her antibody count was so high that Fury made a serum from her blood to cure the other two affected people.

Meanwhile, Sinister congratulated Ruckus/War on getting the sample.

"You did well. Now I can make a Talia clone. Sinister smiled. And little Slayer has come back to us. Too bad her brain does not heal as quickly or as well as her body, or she would not need those goggles. Well, now we shall have two of her, as Ms. Dexter is already working on making a clone of her."

Ruckus/War smiled back.

"Oh," Sinister remembered. "I also sent out Pestilence [A/N aka Hairbag]. He managed to get into contact with the stealth helicopter that the Red Skull was using to escape. He didn't manage to bring it down, but he did manage to get a captive."

Sinister smiled as the Red Skull was brought to him, flanked by Hairbag/ Pestilence and Ramrod/Famine.

Sinister's eyes narrowed. "I should kill you. You set my work back decades with your insipid little racism angle to creating a master race. You destroyed thousands of potential test subjects." Sinister then smiled broadly. "But you have also made yourself useful by altering your germ line. I will be mating you with several mutants over the future to produce a new generation of stronger, more advanced mutants to rule the world."

The Red Skull laughed. "Do your worst."

"Oh, but you see, you will be mated with all sorts of mutants. African. Australoids. Jews. Gypsies. Polish. Russian. Oh, we'll find lots for you to do, and you may have to condescend to sleep with filthy, inferior races." Sinister was obviously using a mocking tone in the last few words. "Oh, yes, you'll be so fortunate." 

The Red Skull's face fell. "I won't."

"Oh, my associates are quite persuasive." Ms. Dexter walked up to him. "If Juggernaut could not resist her charms, what makes you think you can?" 

"Let me go! Let me go!" The Red Skull was taken away, as Sinister threw his head back and laughed.


	12. Epilogue

****

Epilogue

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except for my original characters, of course. But if Marvel wants to use them, they can. Feel free to post this, or any other Glaivester fic, anywhere, but please notify me so I can brag about it.

That Saturday, the X-Men were back at the Institute. SHIELD decided to go easy on Kurt for letting Slayer go, and the Professor was beginning to give Talia her telepathic lessons. Agent Zmoloka had been returned to Latveria, and Snowbird had rejoined Alpha Flight in Canada.

Kurt and Wanda were getting along very nicely, and Juggernaut and Remy had become great friends in their mutual interest in staying away from Tabby and Kitty, who were also inseparable and constantly trying to find ways to be with the two men. The next Monday, Kitty finally did get her driver's license, and as a result over the course of the week was constantly ferrying Cain around, for fun, with Remy and Tabby in the back.

Everyone was happy, or as happy as could be expected given the uncertainty the world was in.

Meanwhile, in the Emerald Isle...

Rahne hated Northern Ireland. Since anti-mutant sentiment had increased in Scotland, her parents had sent her away to some of her relatives in Belfast [A/N as I recall, Irish Protestants are largely from Scotland]. 

One day she was traveling with Sean Cassidy, a friend from the independent portion of Ireland. They were crossing into independent Ireland, to Dublin to visit Sean's daughter, Theresa. They had just reached a field, rather brown from the soon-to-come winter, when they saw a large - dirt storm would be the best way to describe it - coming at them.

There was a huge earthquake-like rumbling, and the car was thrown up into the wave of oncoming dirt. Sean grabbed Rahne, pulled her out of the car, and screeched, flying them up and clear of the storm.

Up higher in the air, they could see a strange figure on the ground. He looked almost robotic, although something about him suggested that he was biological. The figure looked up and screamed. Sean was knocked backward, and he just barely avoided dropping Rahne. Sean flew at the strange man, and using his own sonic blast, he attacked him.

The man was thrown back slightly, but he recovered, and copying Sean's scream for frequency and pattern but not for volume, he launched himself into the air.

So, thought the strange man, as he launched himself into the air, this is the frequency that will enable me to fly without my horse. "Rule Britannia!" he hollered as he flew up to meet Sean.

Sean screamed again, but every scream was met by a louder one from the strange man, until Sean finally lost consciousness and dropped to the ground. The man swept down and grabbed him and Rahne, and lowered them gently onto the dirt.

"Hello, War here," he spoke into a watch. "Target acquired, and a friend as well." He took out a small device and pointed it at her to analyze her. "Ah. A mutant. A lycanthrope. Should I bring her?"

"Yes," came Sinister's voice from the other end of the line. "But don't bring Sean in. Leave him there and attack Dublin instead."

"May I ask why?"

"Yes. It would be better if the Irish government let him come to me of his own accord. After they see what damage you can do, they will want him, and maybe his daughter to be enhanced so as to be able to match you. I will send a representative from the newest defense company, GeneDef Defensive Industries."

"So I attack, and you will send a GeneDef Defensive Industries representative to tell them that they can enhance her in order to fight me?"

"Exactly. So they will think him to be a loyal servant of Irish Intelligence, while all the time he is working for me."

As this was going on, Upload, Baron Zemo, Captain Axis, and Exchange were discussing strategies for finding the Red Skull again and getting their plans back on track.

"I think," explained Zemo, "that we need to put Plan B into action. I have contacts in HYDRA. I also have designs for a Cerebro-like computer. I simply need to get the information from Professor X's mind copied, and I can make my secret weapon."

"Which is?" asked Upload.

"A telepathic weapon of mass destruction. My contacts in HYDRA will get me to their research division, AIM. I will there enlist the help of George Tarleton. He will become the living component of the weapon, and will kill as many as two million in an hour simply with the power of thought."

"This Tarleton is a telepath."

"Yes, quite possibly the most powerful telepath on the planet. Have you ever heard of MODOK?"

~Leboko.~ Upload, aka Mbakama Leboko, heard a voice in his head call his name. ~Leboko, there is a third pyramid. Do not speak of it yet. But prepare to activate it. Once it is activated, I will be able to use my power to help you to destroy the Luseths once and for all!~

Leboko smiled. The Wachukus would finally wipe the hated Luseths off of the face of the Earth, and Galothswo would be cleansed [A/N if you didn't read "Father Figure," the Wachukus are the ruling African tribe in the country of Galothswo, and have attempted genocide against the Luseths, a rival tribe].

Five hours later.

The street was utterly destroyed. There was only one videotape that had survived. It showed a strange, robotic looking mutant screaming, and the buildings along the street crumbling at the noise. At least a thousand were dead. "Rule Britannia!" he hollered before screaming like Sean and flying away.

"So, Sean, is this the man you were confronted by? The one who kidnapped Miss Sinclair?"

Sean nodded.

"W e have reason to believe that this is a British agent. Apparently Britain is tired of being seen as a second-rate power and wants to begin becoming an empire again. It will start with the conquest of all of Ireland. There is a Mr. Kirby here from GeneDef Defensive Industries. He wants to help you so that you can fight this guy when he comes back.

Meanwhile, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a dark, hulking figure came into view. He bared his fangs, and exhaled. Everyone on the street ran in horror, as poisonous gas filled the street. The figure held out his arms, and metal quills flew everywhere, exploding on impact and destroying most of the street.

"Free Ireland!" roared the figure, and he moved back into the fog created by his poisonous breath. Out of sight, he hopped on a metallic horse and flew off.

Two hours later.

British Military Intelligence showed the lone videotape to the Braddock twins.

"Apparently he works for the IRA or a similar group. They killed almost two hundred. It looks like the peace in Northern Ireland is being lost. After all this work, they have finally decided to use mutants to drive us out. Well, we won't allow it. We have our own mutants."

"Damn straight," stated Benjamin.

"They even tried to deflect the blame by killing a thousand of their own in a similar attack. And trying to pin the blame on us. Of course, with terrorists who don't respect the rule of law, you can hardly expect them to respect their own lives more than those of their enemies."

"So what will we do?" asked Elizabeth.

"We have a representative here, Mr. Lieber of GeneDef Defensive Industries. He wants to help you to fight him. He is exploring ways to enhance your mutations."

The head of Irish Intelligence couldn't believe it. In order to cover their rear ends, the British had killed two hundred of their own to deflect the blame for their attack on Ireland. But of course, five times as many Irish had been killed, so obviously the British were behind the whole thing, minimizing the damage to themselves and trying to kill as many Irish as possible without taking any blame.

Mr. Sinister sat back in his chair in the Mexican pyramid, and laughed. He had bugged their offices, and they had reacted as he had expected them to. He would have his wars, and he would have his supermutants. This new one, Rahne Sinclair, would be very interesting after he enhanced her, first by his old methods, and if he liked the results, by using the Eye.

Ms. Dexter, Slayer, Sauron, Wolfsbane, and soon he would have Banshee and his daughter Siryn [A/N Sean and Theresa Cassidy, respectively], as well as the Braddock twins, Elizabeth [A/N Psylocke] and Benjamin [A/N Captain Britain]. Maybe he should give this new group a name.

"I have my Nasty Boys. These can be... my Marauders."

FINIS

[A/N The names of the GeneDef representatives are a reference to Stan Lee (born Stanley Lieber) and Jack Kirby].


End file.
